A west London housing trust has infuriated tenants by demanding notification of holidays and consent to hand out people's personal details to police and the taxman.
The Peabody Trust, founded in 1862, has begun a consultation with all 19,000 tenants to change the terms of their housing agreement - including making residents who are away for a month or more report where they are going and when they will be back.
Other variations include giving outside agencies, such as the Inland Revenue and police, access to their personal details and asking tenants to sign a form giving permission under the Data Protection Act.
The housing organisation runs estates throughout west London, including properties in North Kensington's Dalgarno Gardens, Chelsea Manor Street, Fulham's Lillie Road, the Tachbrook Estate in Pimlico, and Queen's Park Estate in North Paddington.
Retired adult literacy teacher Stella Hargreaves (pictured), 67, who lives on the Abbey Orchard Estate in Abbey Orchard Road, said the proposals were a breach of security and privacy.
"Peabody employs many staff who are on temporary contracts. Are they vetted before they start work and do we want everyone to know our homes are empty and for how long? They want tenants to sign a consent form allowing Peabody to give our personal details to anyone who asks," she said.
The Trust admitted that the Data Protection Act consent form had given rise to 'confusion' over whether residents have to sign it not and blamed Audit Commission demands for more information about residents. The trust added it was 'looking again' at tenants opinions on forcing them to report long absences after 1,600 residents expressed concern about the move.
